V-Log: A Frank Chat About Gender Politics In The Post #MeToo Era

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

This one is pretty good.

‘Kavanaugh’ — #Lyrics To A 80s Pop Rock Song

Sometimes, it takes a little while for my mind to notice something. In this case, how well Kavanaugh fits with the song Panama by Van Halen. I usually don’t like to do one-for-one remakes of songs and this isn’t really one, more just a matter of playing off the familiarity of Panama.

Kavanaugh
@bumgarl
lyrics by Shelton Bumgarner
please give credit if you produce or perform

going to have some skis this weekend
losing all my inhibitions
getting into Yale
bustin my butt
oh yeah

Kavanaugh!
Kavanaugh!
Kavanaugh!

all the girls love a Devil’s Triangle
pulling a train into station
don’t you forget to dangle some law
when at a best friend’s house
beach week will never end
with a dabble of sin

Kavanaugh!
Kavanaugh!
Kavanaugh!

[bridge]
hold her down
turn the radio up
we’re going to boof
whether she likes it or not

there’s nothing she can do
once you’re through with her
lust is it’s own reward
you’re going to be a judge
when you’re this smart and young

Kavanaugh!
Kavanaugh!
Kavanaugh!

‘A Sad Day’ — #Lyrics To A Pop Ballad

I’m just sad and feel like writing lyrics to make myself feel better.

A Sad Day
lyrics by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
please give credit if you produce or perform

the wheels of history are coming off
years and years and years
of stability are at and end
the naked tyrant sits back and laughs
knowing what happens next will be a blast
deals are made and kept
leaving us all feeling wet with rage

today is a sad day
believe me when I say
today is a sad day
believe me when I say
today is a sad day

will it make any difference in the end
now that we all wallow in sin
people are upset and rightly so
but it seems we’re all heading for disaster
don’t you know
when this era ends is anyone’s guess
maybe it will never end, I say with a hiss

today is a sad day
believe me when I say
today is a sad day
believe me when I say
today is a sad day

[bridge]
you have to have hope
you have to believe
one day things will change

today is a sad day
believe me when I say
today is a sad day
believe me when I say
today is a sad day

‘I Believe Her’ — #Lyrics To A Pop Ballad

Sometimes I get into a lyric writing mood for no other reason than it’s cathartic and I like to write lyrics to songs I wish existed. So, you get this.

I Believe Her
lyrics by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
please give credit if you produce or perform

happened long ago
muffled screams don’t you know
thought they would kill her
leave her for dead
these thoughts rattle around inside
inside her head

I believe her
I believe her
I believe her

now there are hearings
a blood sport don’t you know
wow are people learning
the train is leaving station
the boys don’t remember the tears
don’t believe the fears
now the Senate just jeers

I believe her
I believe her
I believe her

[bridge]
maybe one day
things will change
return to how they were
but don’t be surprised
if that’s just a dream

I believe her
I believe her
I believe her
I believe her
I believe her
I believe her

We Need Immediate Massive Protests If We’re Going To Delay The Kavanaugh Vote

by Shelton Bumgarner
@sheltbumgarner

I have all but resigned myself to Brett Kavanaugh being approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. In that, there’s not much w can do. Really, at this point, the only possibility of even delaying his vote and ultimate confirmation by the Senate is massive, spontaneous protests across the country this weekend.

And even that is kind of tricky. The Senate could very well vote on Saturday and that would make even protests problematic. Whatever was done would have to be done immediately and massively. How you would actually pull something like that off, I can only begin to imagine. I think Move On is planning on some sort of protest today, Friday, Sept. 28th, but I doubt it will be enough.

The fix is in and Senate Republicans simply don’t care. They’ve done a cost benefit analysis and they’re willing to take any short term pain as long as they get the long-term reward of a 5-4 majority on the Supreme Court for the next 30 years. That’s their political calculus and, really, it’s difficult to refute. The American Constitutional system is so broken at this point that we’re careening towards a scenario where the entire system freezes up and there is a real risk of very unfortunate violence.

How that would play out, exactly, I don’t dare begin to attempt to fathom.

But honestly, this has been building for several years now and the systemic, structural reasons why this was inevitable in some respects are too tragic to recount. Regardless, immediately, at least, while the Republicans are going to get what they want for their long term, strategic goals, things may get a little bumpy a little bit longer down the road.

There’s a decent chance that there might be a little bit of an uptick in support for The Resistance at part of the 2018 mid-terms because of all of this, and yet maybe not. It all boils down to women. If women are collectively repulsed at how all of this was handled, there might be some consequences for Republicans. And, yet, if there was any sort of Blue Wave, Trump will claim the election was hacked by the Chinese and actively work to discredit the results for the rest of his time in office. This is a perfect way for him to dispute his impeachment and even conviction should that occur.

So that’s where things stand. We’re heading towards a little bit of a bumpy ride in the next few days, but Republicans are so craven — and Democrats so reluctant to play by the “new rules” that Republicans have established — that barring something pretty astonishing (like massive nation-wide protests) I just don’t see Dr. Ford getting something as basic as an FBI investigation. This is yet another step towards the United States being a quasi-autocratic state.

The main problem is there are long term societal trends playing out right now and so while we can quibble about the details and timing of how all of this plays out, long term (or at least for the next 20 years until the youngest of the Baby Boomers finally begin to die off) the Republicans will continue to have the upper hand. They are well on their way to completely transforming the Judiciary and by the time the process is over, it will take decades for the pendulum to begin to swing by the other direction.

I say this with the following caveat — Trump is really bad at being president. So bad, in fact, that while he will probably be pretty successful discrediting any Blue Wave among his base, at least in the short term of the next two years, a Blue Wave would unleash a Pandora’s Box with no obvious end game. But it’s something that would have to be done if there is any hope of saving the Republic. We have to have a check, any check on Trump’s creeping tyranny. I’m prepared to let slip the dogs of chaos in the guise of a Democratic Congress if that’s the only way to reign in Trump’s — and the Republicans’ — bloodthirsty quest for power.

What I’m trying to say, I guess, is there are historic trends that aren’t going away. The Republicans are, in general, going to only grow more powerful over the course of the next 20 odd years before demographics slowly begin to chip away at their blood supply of old codgers. But they believe that if they make it as difficult as possible to vote while transforming the Judiciary into their partisan fiefdom that they potentially moot even that.

Really, though, if we could somehow organize protests, like, now, we might have a chance at something pretty historic. But I just don’t see that happening. I wish it would happen, but it won’t.

Shelton Bumgarner is a writer and photographer living in Richmond, Va. He may be reached at migukin (at) gmail (dot) com.

Struggling To Be A ‘Sex Positive’ Ally To #MeToo

by Shelton Bumgarner
@sheltbumgarner

Let me be completely clear about something — I completely validate the anger of women over what’s going on in America right now and nothing I’m about to say should be seen as anything contrary to that sentiment. There’s an issue that I find myself struggling with and that’s how to be both “sex positive” and an ally to the #MeToo movement.

I say this because I like pictures of hot chicks but at the same time, I totally get why women would be angry that I might be this way. I simply don’t believe that sharing a picture of an attractive SI Swimsuit model on my Facebook wall is, in itself, sexist. I understand that in this charge environment doing this is probably a bridge too far for a lot of women.

But for me, it would be hypocritical to pretend that I was some champion of women’s rights and then not be equally honest about my attraction to the female form. And I get that as a man I probably shouldn’t say anything at all, but rather let this process work its way out. Women are rightfully furious about what’s going on and it is going to take time for all of this to straighten itself out. And the way things are going, it appears as though things are going to get worse — much worse — before they get any better.

Like I said — I’m pretty open about my love for the female form. And being “sex positive” means, in my view, that we don’t hide basic things like men like attractive women in bikinis, or whatever. But again, this is a very difficult time for a lot of people and there’s not much I can say. It’s one of those things where you either get it or you don’t. Either you’re so angry at men that you think they shouldn’t post pictures of hot chicks on their Facebook wall, or you don’t mind and you notice that, like, 80% of their shares are extremely empathetic and supportive of the #MeToo movement.

It’s a very difficult situation with no easy answers and by bringing it up and I’m liable to piss a few people off. But I needed to get it off my chest.

In-Line Editing As A Key Feature In A #Startup Meant To #Disrupt The Newspaper Industry

by Shelton Bumgarner
@sheltbumgarner

While there are any number of features that Usenet had that have mysteriously not managed to make it to modern social media, the one feature that might be the most revolutionary in the end is in-line editing. For 20 years, news Websites have had a comment section that was either below or to the side of the content.

But if you gave people the ability to in-line edit the content that you generated in the app, I think that might be a killer feature. People would really enjoy the ability to have a conversation about the content inside of it. Of course, there is the issue of scalablity. I would propose managing that through redundancy of Groups that the fullpage Posts would be in as well as management of who could actually contribute content into the system.

Redundancy of Groups would be an important aspect of this service. I see this app as an Uber for news. You hire a lot of laid off reporters from around the country and use them to seed the service. I’ve proposed Time Magazine could save itself through this proposed app, but no one listens to me and so I’m just rambling at this point.

Regardless, this is a strong concept. I just wish someone would do something with it.

A Discussion About Trump

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

Here’s an pretty interesting discussion about women and Trump.